A typical football match might last 90 minutes, but not all betting markets are based on the entire duration like Five-Minute Betting option.
In addition to betting on a specific half or even 15-minute intervals, you can also place bets on the first five minutes of a match.
While it may not be a lengthy period, numerous players and managers will attest that this time can establish the tone for the remainder of the half or even influence the entire match.
Moreover, certain platforms enable you to place bets like this on five-minute intervals throughout the entire game, allowing you to continue wagering during the entire match.
How Does Betting in Five-Minute Intervals Work?
In five-minute betting, you typically have the opportunity to wager on whether a specific event will occur within the first 4 minutes and 59 seconds of play.
Possible events include cards, corners, or goals. Alternatively, you can predict which event from a short list may happen during the match (if any).
Both options are simple and offer quick potential returns, making them ideal for bettors who prefer rapid outcomes.
Additionally, they suit fans watching only brief portions of a game but still interested in placing bets.
A somewhat more complex choice is the ‘match action’ points system. In this format, each major event—such as a penalty, corner kick, yellow card, or red card—is assigned a specific point value.
Your task is to wager on what the total score will be during the first five minutes of play.
If you anticipate an uneventful start with minimal highlights, choose a lower number; however, if you expect fast-paced and intense gameplay right from kick-off, opting for a higher number might be more enticing.
Goal in the First Five Minutes
In the initial 182 matches of the 2021/22 Premier League season, there were 21 goals scored in the first five minutes.
This means an early goal happened in about 11.5% of games, indicating that such quick strikes are more common than some fans might believe.
Of the 21 strikes, Man City accounted for three, but somewhat surprisingly, Southampton led with four. Given this reasonably substantial sample size, it can serve as a general guide for early goal betting.
In the game below, odds were set at 6/1 for a goal within the first five minutes. However, considering that it was a European Championship final and likely to start cautiously, this bet wasn’t particularly appealing.
At this price, we would only contemplate backing “yes” if one team significantly outmatches the other. In such a scenario, you might assess that there’s more than a 14.3% (6/1) chance of an early goal being scored.
For higher odds, consider betting on a specific player scoring within the first five minutes; however, make sure to seek substantial returns for this wager since even top players seldom score so quickly in the match.
Yellow Cards in the First Five Minutes
When considering a bet on an early yellow card, there are several factors to keep in mind. One of the most crucial is understanding how likely the referee is to issue cards.
Does the referee hand them out frequently or tend to be more reserved? This consideration is vital because referees can vary widely in their strictness due to the subjective nature of officiating responsibilities.
During the 2021/22 Premier League season, David Coote received more yellow cards than Martin Atkinson. Factors like teams, player behavior, and accumulating cards influence the outcome.
Tensions typically rise towards the end of matches since there’s been more time for provocations and incidents to occur.
Locating specific data on yellow cards issued in the first five minutes of a match is quite challenging. However, observing players known for receiving numerous cautions can provide some insight.
Take the 2020/21 Premier League season as an example: John McGinn, Connor Gallagher, Harry Maguire, and Kalvin Phillips accumulated a total of 44 yellow cards among them and were considered major card offenders that year.
Assuming these cards are evenly distributed across game timeframes, you might expect around two or three to be issued during the opening five minutes.
The match saw only one yellow card issued in the first 20 minutes, with seven during injury time. Early cards are uncommon unless pre-match tension exists and referees are known for frequent cards.
Corners in the First Five Minutes
In contrast to cards, corners are more evenly distributed throughout a match. Although there is still a slight tendency towards more corners in the second half, the difference is not significant.
While specific statistics depend on the league or competition, it’s common for games to average about 4.5 corners in the first half and 5.5 in the second half.
In many leagues and competitions where four to five first-half corners are typical, witnessing one within the opening five minutes isn’t particularly uncommon; this likelihood is reflected in betting odds.
Ultimately, predicting whether there will be a corner within the first 300 seconds resembles gambling since there’s little justification either way.
Certain elements might nudge you in one direction, especially if a team attempts an adventurous routine right from kick-off.
However, you’ll mostly rely on your intuition for this decision since detailed stats about corners within the first five minutes aren’t readily accessible.
Initial Five-Minute Penalty
In this market, bettors have the opportunity to win approximately 20 times their stake in just five minutes.
It might appear to be an enticing opportunity for ambitious bettors looking for a quick win, but we believe this is largely a bet best avoided.
Throughout the 10 seasons spanning from 2011 to 2022, the Premier League averaged approximately one penalty every four matches, with about 92 penalties awarded per each of its typical 380-game seasons.
If penalties were equally likely to be awarded at any point during a match, the likelihood of one occurring within the first five minutes would be nearly 1.4%.
A standard price of 20/1 translates to an implied probability of 4.8%.
Conclusion
We don’t typically focus on five-minute betting since most options involve a substantial amount of luck.
With many football bets, you can conduct research and place a well-founded wager that inspires some confidence.
It’s much easier to build a compelling argument for potential outcomes throughout an entire match or even during one half than it is for just the initial five minutes.
However, there are occasions when five-minute betting might be worth considering. For instance, predicting an early goal in certain matches can sometimes yield a favorable return.
Likewise, the early corner market isn’t a bad choice for a quick bet since you may have some reasoning to support either option of yes or no.
When it comes to betting on penalties and cards, these events occur so infrequently in the first five minutes that we rarely consider wagering on them.
While unlikely outcomes can be worth backing if the odds are favorable enough, they would need to be significantly higher for us to even entertain the thought.
You do have the option of placing a bet against their occurrence instead of for it; however, because those odds tend to be quite low as well, such bets should generally also be avoided.
